


Mages, Familiars, and All The Trouble That Accompanies Them

by the_lanky_kat



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto just wants a kouhai, Familiars, Fantasy AU, I hope, I wish I was as cool as Tendou, I'm hella excited for my two beautiful setter/mage sons to battle it out, I'm proud I came up with this, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Mages, Magic AU, Tendou is a cool af familiar, Terushima is cool, a few chapters might have other POVs, and by a while I mean up until an hour ago, but then Tendou and Semi steal his kouhai, clan au, for a while I just called him Tongue Piercing Guy, he finally gets a kouhai, he just wants to be a proud owl dad, if all goes as planned there will be a Akaashi and Oikawa showdown, if all goes as planned this is going to be an awesome fic, jk always go, never go to Tendou/Semi hell kids, poor Bo, warriors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-07-24 16:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7515164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_lanky_kat/pseuds/the_lanky_kat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukishima Kei knew a lot of things, but there were four big things he never considered would happen to him.</p>
<p>1: He'd become apart of a family again<br/>2: He'd gain a loyal friend<br/>3: He'd fall in love<br/>4: He'd help save the world</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shello!  
> This is my first Fic, so I hope it's okay. There is probably mistakes, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :D

A boy no older than seventeen crept along the rough borders of his home. Snow caked some parts of the hill, other parts marred by frozen dirt and wild grasses turned yellow from the weather. Every so often a molehill could be seen, an echo of wildlife come and gone with the changing of the seasons. The sun barely peeked over the frozen tundra to the east, casting long lines of liquid gold across the barren lands.  
The boy paused to sniff at the air, wrinkling up his forehead as he did so. The bow in his hand immediately raised from its lounging position at his side. A feather slipped across his cheek as he lined the arrow up, turning to the west warily.  
Nothing.  
Nothing but a change in the wind too subtle to be by the hand of a mage. Brown eyes narrowed, raking across the landscape with piercing certainty that he had scented _something ___. He ran the piercing on his tongue along the soft skin of his lower lip, a bad habit he had formed sometime in his fifteenth year.  
_The world belongs to the young ___, his sensei had lectured when he asked for the umpteenth time why he was succeeding his father at such a young age.  
Personally, he found this to be foolish. He was still young and foolish; at least he acknowledged this. When he expressed this concern to his aging father, he had been ushered out to go hunting. _Good for young people to go out and play in the woods. ___  
He found he was quite playful, quite foolish, but every once in a while there came a time for seriousness. He had yet to find this time, but a prickling on the back of his neck was leading him to believe that such a time would be nearing. He wished he wasn't so unprepared.  
His eyes flicked around the tundra again before lowering his bow back to his side, still wary. He ran his tongue piercing along his bottom lip again, he could feel the off-ness in the air.  
But nonetheless there was nothing to warrant his uneasy feelings of being watched. Perhaps he was being paranoid. He then scoffed at that thought, he was never paranoid. His sixth sense was never wrong.  
It was likely he was being watched by a field mouse, or something equally ridiculous. There was nothing to the west for miles expect his clan's territory. Either way, if there was something, he'd be able to smell it; such a sense of smell only came with growing up with the most concentrated amount of familiars in all of the lands, even if he himself wasn't one.  
He exhaled the pent-up feeling in his chest, pushing back the nervousness and unease like it was something tangible. He replaced the wrinkled up expression with an easy smile of glee at being out in the wild playing hunter. He may even get an elk if he's lucky!  
The boy continued on, forcing the tension out of his shoulders as he walked, wrapped feet crunching on the frosted grass. _Nothing to worry about ___, he chanted, _nothing to worry about. ___  
The cobra hidden in the tall grass disagreed greatly, _very greatly ___.

______*****_ _ _ _ _ _

__________Kei leaned up against a tree, watching the fight taking place with interest. He ran his hand along the rough bark, savoring the texture as he pondered who was going to win. He made it his personal rule to never actually bet on Dumbass 1 and Dumbass 2's fights, but if he did he certainly would have won said bets. He was right 5 out of 7 times, and he was sure he was going to get himself his 6th bet correct with today's squabble.  
_Ah, right on time, ___he thought with mild amusement.  
The grey haired man caught wind of the fight as soon as it began progressing from words to fists. In three long strides their clan's healer had positioned himself between both of them, grabbing the two idiots by their earlobes. The red haired one screeched in pain, while the black haired one just grimaced at the unpleasant situation.  
Kei merely laughed.  
The crowd had quickly dissipated, not wanting to get called out by the terrifying healer. Despite his appearance, their healer was one quick to scold, even maim if the situation called for such measures. The healer had earned the clan's respect, by his beauty and the kind nature he possessed, or the scolding one that reminded everyone of their mother.  
"Again?!?" Sugawara hissed to the two boys, yanking down so they were forced to lean in, their noses brushing.  
The short, red haired one grimaced at the still short but not _as ___short black haired one. Despite their eyes blazing with what Kei could only imagine was some concoction of hate and lust that he didn't quite understand, they grumbled apologies under their breaths. This seemed to satisfy Sugawara, for he nodded curtly and released his hold from their ears.  
"I've given you two long enough to work your issues out, I'm going to Daichi right now," Sugawara said, giving them both a pleased look as they practically groveled at his feet to not tell the scary leader of the Karasuno Clan.  
"Please, Suga-san! Don't tell Daichi-san!" Kageyama cried out, getting on his knees.  
Hinata trembled in place, mumbling out something about death and blueberries. Kageyama turned his attention to the trembling boy standing beside where he knelt, grabbing the shorter's arm and yanking him to his knees as well.  
"We are really sorry, Sugawara-senpai, please forgive us," Hinata said, giving her the best puppy eyes he could muster.  
"Wow," Kei said as nonchalantly as possible, "the King reduced to begging, what a day to be alive."  
All three males turned their attention to him, two in anger, one in disappointment.  
"Hey!" Hinata exclaimed, rising to his feet with his fists balled up at his sides. "You leave him alone!"  
Kei clucked his tongue and shook his head like he was scolding a child (he might as well have been).  
"And who's going to make me, certainly not you, what's your height again? 130 centimeters?" Kei taunts, leaning forward as to make it appear as if he is looming over the shrimp.  
"I'm 164.8, you giant tree!" Hinata screeched, lurching forward before getting caught by the shoulder by the angry healer.  
Sugawara gave Kei a withering glare before turning his gaze to the two other boys.  
"Both of you, go see Ennoshita. He'll decide what to do with you," Sugawara said, sighing deeply at the end.  
"Ossu!" the both shouted, dipping into short bows before scurrying away towards the center of camp.  
Kei doesn't wait to watch them go like Sugawara does, instead he turns on his heel and stalks out of the clearing and towards the forest he came from three days ago. As he reaches the edge of the clearing, Sugawara finally catches up to his long strides and places a hand on his shoulder, one that he would brush off if it weren't for the strong grip that accompanied it.  
"What?" Kei asked, annoyed with his senior.  
"I'm disappointed you didn't stop them," Sugawara said softly, his grip loosening just a bit.  
"That's not my problem," Kei says, jerking his shoulder so the slender hand falls away.  
Sugawara is eerily quiet for a moment, and Kei wonders if he's finally going to tell Kei to leave, that the tall blonde has overstayed his welcome.  
"Why do you push us away?" Sugawara asks instead, his voice soft and gentle.  
His tone angers Kei, but also it makes a flash of guilt streak through his body; the healer's tone sounded as if he was comforting a young child after a thunderstorm.  
Kei shrugs, and really he's telling the truth.  
"Tsukishima, please, just try and get along with them," Sugawara says, sighing deeply.  
Kei keeps his head up until the sounds of Sugawara's breathing and soft footsteps fades, then he lets his head droop, but only slightly. He didn't want it to be this way, it's just who he was. He always had gotten his hopes up easily, only to have them dashed or to be laughed at to his face. Karasuno would be no different. It wasn't his fault they were dragging out the hopefulness longer than usual.  
Kei closed his eyes a took a deep breath, a technique taught to him by his brother to keep him from loosing his calm and collected facade.  
The first step away from the camp was always the hardest. Especially on days like these where all he wanted was to curl up on a bed instead of grass and feel _safe ___and _protected ___instead of waking up every hour at slight noises that set his nerves on edge. To be honest, he'd be mortified if anyone ever found out he felt this way. He'd be even more mortified if anyone ever found out that no, his calm exterior didn't come naturally.  
Kei shook his head to himself as his bare feet padded across the ground. Golden and red leaves were shimmering above in the endless streams of sunlight that the forest basked in.  
_When did it turn to fall? ___he wondered to himself.  
Maybe he'd leave for Nekoma's territory soon, he didn't want to be left exposed in the cold when Daichi and Sugawara kicked him out for good. Given, they were fairly far south, but the seas on the edge of Nekoma's territory were tempting with the endless stories of warmth and good trade with the other clans. Maybe Kei would be a merchant when he got down there, after all, merchants weren't in demand, unlike mages such as himself.  
Kei kicked a twig up into the air, watching it fall somewhere in the distance. He sighed deeply, observing the area for a moment, before deciding to sleep amongst the trees tonight. His gaze caught a tall, healthy tree to his right, a strong one whose leaves were still clinging to their green color.  
He scrambled up the tree with surprising grace for someone who usually slept on the ground, choosing the second lowest branch to position himself on. After all of these years of wandering, he had learned to be half-awake while he was asleep and had learned to not move at all in his sleep, lest he fall out of a tree.  
Kei had fallen out of a tree more times than he would like to admit, probably getting close to thirteen times before he mastered the art (well, not exactly mastered, which is why he preferred to sleep on the ground). Kei watched the forest gleam with color, sadly the sun would not set for another few hours.  
Kei was not quite used to the longer hours of daylight that the clans beneath Aoba Jouhsai and Shiratorizawa territory seemed to enjoy. He wished the daylight would fade faster, considering his people had been trained for ease in the darkness. As he lazily watched the light glimmer off of the browning leaves, he tried to take himself back a few years (three or four maybe?) when he was still shivering in his tent, curled up beside his brother.  
Despite the rumors, not all of his former clan was immune to the cold, him being one of them. Still, his body seemed to radiate the cold that he had left behind, like it still thought it was up north where the sun would disappear for weeks on end. Of course then there was The Incident, and Kei had run as far as he could have, and hadn't stopped since.  
Kei wondered if they had found someone to replace him by now.  
He sighed deeply and slid off his glasses (his brother had gotten him glasses for his fifth birthday, and every birthday until Kei left), pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes until splotchy white fuzz burned behind his eyelids. Kei removed his hands and picked up the delicate frame of his glasses, pondering for a moment before hooking them up on a branch above him. He hoped they wouldn't fall, it had been a royal pain in the ass to get them repaired last time back in some small village in Aoba Jouhsai's territory.  
Apparently it was a mage thing, glasses; apparently Aoba Jouhsai's self proclaimed Grand King had the same trouble with his eyesight. Kei wondered if it bothered Aoba Jouhsai's leader too that out of everything mages could do, fixing eyesight was not one of them (Kei would literally give up his own arm if he could get his terrible eyesight fixed).  
With the happy thought of himself with one arm and perfect eyesight engrained in his skull, Kei watched as a blurry form fluttered to the branch above him. To be honest, he wasn't sure if it was a butterfly or a bird, it was a blackish blur. What he did see, was the squarish blur of his glasses plucked up by said bird (at least, he assumed a butterfly couldn't pick up his glasses).  
"Hey!" he exclaimed, grabbing up in the general direction of the bird. The culprit let out a caw (definitely a bird, a crow most likely). Kei replied by snatching at the glasses in the bird's beak. The crow let out an indignant sound before flying off with his glasses clutched in talons.  
"Hey?" Kei whispered to no one in particular.  
Great, now he was temporarily blind until he got his stupid glasses back. And he wouldn't even be able to tell what was his glasses and what was not without said glasses.  
Frustration rose up inside of him, and he felt tears prickle at the corners of amber eyes. Kei let his head fall back, landing with a soft thump against the rough bark. Why was he even getting worked up about his stupid glasses?  
_Because that's the last thing Akiteru gave to you ___, the annoyingly sentimental part of his brain whispered.  
He promptly told it to shut up, and forced himself into a wary and fitful sleep, deciding that he would begin his search for his glasses tomorrow under the light of day. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Second chapter. Wasn't entirely sure I would even continue this, so I'm really proud of myself currently. I hope you enjoy it! :D

Kei awoke with the rising of the sun after a dreamless night, every time he awoke having been reminded he no longer had glasses. He couldn't go to Sugawara for help, that would be extremely embarrassing. Sometime during the night he had realized that perhaps a Familiar had taken his glasses under the command of their Keeper. Who was the culprit, you might ask. Well, Kei didn't quite know for sure, but he had his suspicions it was Dumbass 2's fault.  
Was the shrimp a Familiar? Check.  
Was the shrimp a crow Familiar? Check.  
Did he had motive? Check.  
In Kei's mind the shorty was already guilty. This formed a problem for Kei though, if he went to confront them about his glasses, good chances were that A) they wouldn't give them back without a fight or B) they'd make fun of him showing up without glasses or C) both. He wasn't particularly fond of any of those options. Just as he was contemplating his viable choices, he was interrupted by an ugly and muffled caw.  
He snapped his head towards the source of the sound, which happened to be straight above him where the orange tint of early morning light was coating the tallest parts of the tree. In the midst of the waves of sunlight was a black, blurry shadow. Kei frowned deeply, wondering if this was the same crow and it had come back to taunt him and his extremely fallible sight.  
"What are you looking at?" Kei asked the bird, frowning.  
The bird let out an answering caw, and a black blur seemed to get closer to his face. Kei _shrieked ___when he was hit in the face with something cold and plastic. It was highly embarrassing. He fumbled with the glasses he (un)gracefully caught before they could fall to the damp, leaf-covered ground. He slipped them over the bridge of his nose, surprised to find his glasses still in tact and not scratched up at all.  
 _Huh, Dumbass 2 wasn't a complete dumbass, ___he realized, undeniably impressed with the condition of his glasses.  
Kei looked up to see the crow that had returned his spectacles, wrinkling up his nose at the bird. It was odd looking for a crow, slightly bigger than normal and had occasional silver feathers across its ebony head. To be honest it looked like someone had sprinkled salt over the bird's head and across the tips of his wings. The bird was watching him curiously with beady little eyes, head tilted to the side in a sort of innocent-looking way.  
"What do you want?" Kei asked the bird with amber eyes narrowed in suspicion.  
The bird ruffled its feathers in response, beginning to preen itself like a normal bird would. He was beginning to doubt it was a Familiar at all. Kei reached out with his frozen aura, accidentally coating a few leaves with ice as he reached for the crow's consciousness. The crow's consciousness was small and warm, just like an average crow's would be.  
He couldn't help the frown on his face at that. Why would a bird not only steal, but also return his glasses when it had literally no motives at all.  
"Weird," he mumbled to himself, swinging his legs over the branch he was laying on.  
He jumped off of the branch, which was a bad idea in hindsight. Pain raked up his feet and legs, making him wince as he absorbed the fall. He realized he probably should have used magic to lower himself down or something, but Kei didn't think that he should use magic on anything that was remotely doable without it. He shook his left leg much like a dog to rid himself of the pain in the arch of his foot, grimacing as he did such an act. For some reason his left leg was more sensitive than his right one was.   
A caw rang out in the air above him, causing him to jerk his head in the direction of the sound. The bird landed with a _thud ___onto Kei's bony shoulder, making him flinch.  
This act made the bird shuffle closer, the body heat of such a small creature pressing against his head and neck. Kei rolled his shoulder in a polite attempt to get the bird to leave, but the bird only shuffled closer, now fully pressed up against his neck. Kei could even feel it's heartbeat.  
When was the last time something living was this close to him? When was the last time he felt something else's heartbeat so close to him?  
Kei swallowed the sickening feeling rising in his throat and began shaking his shoulder more, he wanted the stupid bird _off ___. But, said stupid bird had other plans, and proceeded to promptly tug at a piece of golden hair.  
"Ow..." Kei grumbled, bringing his hand up to cover the offending spot.  
The bird made a satisfied sound, less like a caw and more like a... coo? Kei momentarily wondered if crows could even do that.  
"Weird bird," Kei said, rolling his shoulder one last time before marching off in the direction of Karasuno's camp.  
If anyone could get this thing off, it'd be their kind hearted healer.  
As he was walking in the forest, almost halfway to Karasuno's camp, he was met with another surprise. There was a soft tug on his hair, but it didn't quite hurt like before. The bird made a noise that Kei decided was _definitely ___cooing, and began brushing its beak against his head.  
The bird was _preening ___his hair.  
 _Okay then. ___  
Kei just shook his head at the oddness of the whole situation and kept walking dutifully. Sugawara could fix this.  
And that's why Kei marched into camp at such an ungodly hour of the morning with a bird gently grooming his hair. Kageyama and Hinata were already up and helping Kageyama work on his magic, probably his defense (Kei noted that Kageyama sucked at defense early on).  
The blonde made his way over to Sugawara's small wooden room that couldn't really be called a house, knocking sharply three times in succession on the scratchy surface of the door. The door opened immediately to Sugawara rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  
"What?" he grumbled irritably, eyes still not open and a hand running through his hair in a futile attempt to straighten it up.  
"There is a bird on my shoulder and it won't leave," Kei said simply, shrugging his shoulder again.  
The bird responded to this with a quick pull of the current strand it was working on. Kei hissed in pain and rubbed at his head again before the bird went back to preening again. When he looked back up at Sugawara, he was surprised to find an amused expression playing across the healer's delicate features.  
"What?" Kei snapped, earning a soft tug from the bird.  
 _It's as it's reprimanding me, ___he realized irritably.  
"What do you want me to do about it?" Sugawara asked, something in his eyes looking quite mischievous.  
"Get it off," Kei stated.  
"I can't," Sugawara said, waving his hand in the air.  
"Why not?" Kei asked incredulously.  
"He's imprinted on you, and you've imprinted on him," Sugawara said, shutting his door again. "Goodnight!"  
"Wait!" Kei said, staring angrily at the wooden door in front of him.  
The bird cooed again, rubbing it's head against Kei's sympathetically.  
"This is your fault," he grumbled, but couldn't help but tilt his head as the bird preened a spot that felt nice.  
He also couldn't help but close his eyes and hum contentedly as the bird continued its methodic preening. Okay, maybe he didn't think the bird wasn't _too ___awful. But what did Sugwara mean by "imprinted"? That meant the animal saw him as something it could trust! What did he do to deserve the crow's trust?  
He sighed deeply and reopened his eyes, searching for invisible answers. Perhaps the leader of the clan would know? Kei had only met the man once, but he was sure that Daichi would help him if he told him the problem.  
So he trudged off to the far end of the Karasuno clan's little camp, where Daichi and his successor Ennoshita were housed. As Kei passed by the shared house of the Knight Asahi and his familiar Nishinoya, he was stopped by a familiar sound.  
He let his magic reach out, brushing against the presences inside of Ennoshita's small house next to Asahi and Nishinoya's. There were three presences. One was the reliable strength of Karasuno's leader, and the other was the soothing calm of Ennoshita. The other though...  
The bird on his shoulder made an alarmed squawking sound before taking off, flying in the direction they came from. As Kei probed at the last consciousness, he felt it lean in, and immediately the presence came crashing down upon him.  
He tried to turn away, but he was caught in the feeling of the Familiar's magic. The door swung open, familiar amber eyes meeting Kei's identical ones. The man's face softened, breathing out a soft "Kei" under his breath.  
Kei promptly turned around, and ran.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go, the next chapter awaits! It's mostly from Yama's perspective, but then it switches to Tsukki's at the end. In case you couldn't tell from the first chapter the changing of POV is signified by five asterisks (*****). That's all for now! Enjoy! :D

Yamaguchi Tadashi was fairly awful at being a Familiar, if he was going to be honest with himself. Most days he spent his time with Suga, helping the healer pick herbs or heal the rashes that came from those stupid bushes Tanaka loved throwing himself into. The other days he spent working with Hinata and Kageyama, showing them how to improve their skills as a team. He never was quite... _invested ___in signing his soul over to the nearest mage like he always assumed he should be. One thing he did do that was very cliche of a Familiar was spend as much time as he could spare basking in the comfort of the forest.  
He loved the soothing wind and the way other birds chirped so beautifully when they were content. He loved the way the family of otters splashed around in the creek flowing through Karasuno's territory. He loved the way the morning sun reflected off of the shimmering golden leaves. He loved how peaceful it was in the forest at night, which is why he was so surprised to find Hinata seemingly flying for his life with a pair of glasses firmly trapped in his beak.  
He had squawked out a greeting, flying from the branch he had previously been perched on to greet his friend. Hinata had even _flinched ___at the brush of Tadashi's wings against his own.  
Tadashi was immediately suspicious.  
He tilted to the right to push Hinata over to a tree to land so that they could speak, and for a moment it was obvious Hinata didn't get it. Then, with a sharp motion of his head, Hinata seemed to realize what Tadashi wanted and landed on the nearest branch that could support his weight. Tadashi chose a branch a little bit lower since he weighed probably a lot more than Hinata did, and didn't really want to take any chances.  
Tadashi shifted back with a soft glow of light and was now swinging his legs back and forth like a little kid, all the while looking up scoldingly at his fiery haired friend.  
"What did you do? Whose glasses are those?" Tadashi asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.  
"Um..." Hinata made a weird squeaky sound and scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "Ennoshita's?"  
"Liar. Try again," Tadashi said, crossing his arms over his chest.  
Hinata seemed to search for a different answer before stating the truth after a few minutes.  
"Fine," the red head sighed, "they are that asshole Tsukishima's glasses."  
Tadashi searched his memories for someone named Tsukishima, and when he found none he looked to Hinata for help.  
"All guhhhhhh and grrrrr," Hinata explained. "Super tall! When I saw him I was all like BWAH! and GWAH! and I really wish I was that tall. But then he was all like grrrrrr and was all blehhhh and kept pushing his glasses up his nose at us. You should have been there Yamaguchi! He was awful!"  
Tadashi frowned deeply, trying to remember a tall guy with glasses, but he couldn't remember.  
"Did I meet him?" Tadashi asked.  
"Nah. Suga was all "GWAH! keep him away from the last unmarked Familiar!" when he walked away. Something about him making Suga feel all gwuhhh and blehhhh around his consciousness. Suga kept sending you out to get herbs," Hinata explained, wildly gesturing with his hands now.  
"So you stole his glasses?" Tadashi asked, a little amused.  
"Well, he was really PWEH! to Bakageyama so I was like GWAH! I'll protect you! And I decided to steal his glasses," Hinata said.  
Tadashi snorted at that, rolling his eyes. It was typical for Hinata to hate Kageyama to his face, but the minute anyone threatened Hinata's Keeper, the red head was trying to fight them.  
Hinata and Kageyama's was a bond between Keeper and Familiar that everyone envied, even those with their own Keeper or Familiar. Those two had a special bond.  
"You should give him back his glasses," Tadashi decided, pointing to the black rimmed spectacles in his friend's hand.  
"Eh, I thought it'd be funny to see him walking around without them," Hinata tried to reason.  
"Just go give them back," Tadashi sighed, rubbing his forehead to ease the exasperation.  
"I can't! He'll totally knock me out of the sky! He's a mage like Bakageyama, well, that's what Suga says," Hinata explained.  
Tadashi huffed out a sigh before looking up at his friend once more.  
"I'll take them to him, if you point me in his general direction," Tadashi reasoned.  
Hinata eagerly complied, dropping the glasses so they fell safely into Tadashi's hands and motioned eagerly to the northern part of the woods.  
"He's got this weird colored hair, like Yachi's! It's super golden, it's hard to miss him," Hinata said, being very hypocritical.  
"Yeah, okay. Go back to your Keeper before he has to search for you again," Tadashi said, trying to hide a noise of amusement at the memory of what happened last time.  
Hinata obviously remembered as well, eyes growing large and his face paling greatly. The red head gulped nervously before giving Tadashi a hasty goodbye, jumping from the branch and shifting into a small crow before he could hit the ground.  
Tadashi pouted slightly at Hinata's easy control over his shifting abilities. Tadashi had some days where he couldn't shift back at all! And, of course, Hinata was wherever with his precious Keeper practicing cool magic, attack magic. Tadashi was still bitter that he had manifested mostly defensive magic, which sucked because he couldn't do cool tricks or anything like that, even if his magic was unnecessarily strong for a Familiar.  
He let out a deep sigh before gingerly climbing out of the tree, really wishing he could depend on his body to do as he wished.  
_Lucky Hinata, ___Tadashi griped as he shifted into a white speckled crow.  
He made his way north, glasses firmly planted in his beak as he searched the forest for a grouchy tall blonde missing his glasses. When Tadashi found aforementioned blonde, he was surprised to find that the tall blonde seemed to be asleep. The Familiar landed on a branch above Tsukishima's head, watching dutifully over the mage, who looked peaceful in his sleep.  
Tadashi considered placing the glasses on the mage's chest and leaving promptly after, but that thought was unfit for the situation, considering the blonde shifted slightly and folded his hands over a black shirt. Tadashi decided to leave the mage for now, but wake up early tomorrow morning and deliver the glasses.  
He decided to do just that, and maybe teach Tsukishima to not mess with his friends while he was at it.

___*****_ _ _

____Kei ran until his lungs burned like he was inhaling fire and his legs felt like they had been trampled by a herd of deer. Even though he was a good distance away from the clan, he still felt like Akiteru was _right there ___. At the sight of his brother, his own magic had come singing to the surface of his consciousness. It was all a familiar melody, but it was cold and wrong in ways that Kei had never been able to describe.  
At that thought he began sprinting again, knowing that if he did in fact get far enough, Akiteru would be forced to stop in his pursuit. Kei _would not ___go back. Not for Akiteru, not for the other mages, not for any promise that Daishou made.  
Akiteru and Daishou were both cobra Familiars for a reason.  
Kei lasted another thirty seconds of running before he promptly slid to a stop on his hands and knees, scraping them across the forest floor. He heaved up what little contents he had in his stomach and scrambled to his feet again, the panic coming back again like a tidal wave.  
_You can't keep running ___, a cynical voice in his head whispered.  
_I can, and I will ___, Kei answered it, continuing in his running despite the heavy thumping of his heart and the blurriness of the forest around him.  
Kei tripped over a rock this time, catching himself before he slammed into the ground and broke both his nose and his glasses. He stayed there for a moment, letting his surroundings stop their spinning momentarily. A sharp pain that stretched from shoulder blade to shoulder blade reminded him why he was running again. Right now, if he wanted to, he could count every tattooed star that stretched across his back. Seven stars, each no bigger than the tip of his pinky finger. The line that connected them dipped in the middle, like it was making room for something that didn't exist.  
Right now he counted those stars, remembering how excited Akiteru was when Kei turned ten, how they agreed to share their magic in a bond of Keeper and Familiar. He remembered how much it had hurt the two of them, as if it already knew such a bond between them was unnatural.  
It had seared itself into Kei's skin in the form of a constellation, while Akiteru's had been in the form of a snake, curling all the way around his older brother's stomach like a belt.  
Right now Kei was wondering if Akiteru's tattoo was burning as much as Kei's was, or if Akiteru had succeeded in avoiding all the pain that Kei was drowning in.  
The blonde's vision blurred for a different reason than before. He gently removed his glasses and hastily wiped the sweat and tears away with the back of his hand. He just wanted to get away from all the politics back home; all the power hungry Familiars; all the kidnapped clans. He wanted it back the way it used to be, the way it was before a snake named Daishou entered their metaphorical garden.  
Kei let his hands slide back to his sides, his body falling to the leaf covered ground. He was just tired; both mentally and physically. So instead of continuing on his panic-fueled journey, he just lay there, letting death or Akiteru find him, whichever came first. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheh, sorry about this. It's probably terrible. I kinda don't do well with Yamaguchi. I always feel like he's super out of character. Anyway, despite how difficult this was for me to write, I hope it's fairly okay. I feel like it's sort of jumbled together and hurried, but oh well. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :D

Tadashi wasn't usually one to hate people, in fact, he got along with everyone he met, until he felt that slimy, cold presence of another Familiar. That presence had immediately found the blonde mage's, latching on like a leach. Tadashi hadn't been expecting that; most Familiars treated their Keepers with fondness and respect as far as he knew. Nonetheless, Tsukishima had kept walking in the direction of Ennoshita's home where Daichi and Ennoshita were meeting with the slimy Familiar.  
At that, Tadashi had flown to get Suga. That presence in Ennoshita's building was _wrong ___.  
Tadashi flew through Suga's open window, screeching and cawing loudly to alert the healer of trouble. Suga had given Tadashi a sleepy look before throwing off his covers and jumping back out of bed again.  
"What is it, Tadashi?" Suga asked, buttoning up the classic white shirt everyone in the Karasuno clan wore on a daily basis.  
The Familiar shifted back, nearly tumbling face first into the grey haired mage. He took a moment to right himself before explaining the odd feeling to Suga.  
"There is a strange Familiar talking to Ennoshita and Daichi! Come quick!" Tadashi exclaimed, hurrying out the door with Suga in tow.  
The first thing the crow Familiar noticed was the lack of blonde mage where Tadashi had left him, which was alarming, but the feeling of worry quickly dissipated and was replaced with fear. The strange Familiar was staring _right at him ___with a look of anger and disgust. Tadashi swallowed thickly and took a step back, Suga immediately maneuvering himself in front of him.  
"Hello," Suga said in greeting, giving the strange Familiar a pleasant smile. "I'm Sugawara, who might you be?"  
The Familiar narrowed his amber eyes slightly, as if sizing up Suga, which was a disturbing thought. Suga was the most powerful mage in their clan, plus gifted with the ability to heal with his magic if need be.  
"I am Tsukishima Akiteru, Familiar of Tsukishima Kei," the man said, eyes flicking to Tadashi's for a moment.  
 _Oh, ___Tadashi realized, swallowing thickly.  
He must have noticed the way Tadashi's Familiar magic had been slightly feeding into the younger Tsukishima's earlier. Familiars could be oddly possessive of their Keepers, even if the relationship wasn't romantic like most were. To be honest, Tadashi hadn't felt the push and pull of another Familiar's magic amongst Tsukishima's, and had assumed the young mage wasn't a Keeper yet. It was strange that Akiteru's consciousness hadn't been engraved in Tsukishima's. He must have been away from his Keeper for a long time...  
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Would you mind if I called you Akiteru? We've taken to calling your brother Tsukishima, and it would be odd to refer to both of you in such a way," Suga said, calmly moving forward to close the gap of distance between himself and Akiteru.  
Tadashi, in the meanwhile, stayed where he was out of fear that Akiteru would lose his cool.  
"That is fine. How long have you been harboring my little brother? How long have you been dementing him with your southern ways?" Akiteru asked, glaring pointedly at Tadashi now.  
"We have not been dementing him, and I would like to know what you mean about our 'southern ways'," Suga said, and from where he was standing, Tadashi could tell the healer was offended by that statement.  
"Suga," Daichi said, appearing from behind Akiteru, "Akiteru has been searching for his Keeper for nearly four years after Tsukishima ran away."  
Tadashi nearly thought his eyes would burst forth from his head at that number. Four months was one thing, it'd surely be uncomfortable and maybe even would strain their bond a bit, but _four years? ___As far as he knew that was practically unheard of considering both Keeper and Familiar formed a bond stronger than anything else in the world!  
That pretty much explained why there had been no traces of Akiteru on Tsukishima, and it also explained the mage's snarky and irritable behavior, not to mention Akiteru's possessiveness. Familiars could only bond with one Keeper, but Keepers could bond with more than one Familiar. In some special cases, a new Familiar could even erase the presence of an old one.  
"I sympathize, but we have done nothing to your Keeper. If it was up to me, he'd be one of us already, but he seemed adamant about leaving as soon as possible," Suga explained.  
Daichi gave the healer a surprised look, obviously he had not been told about his healer's plan to make the irritable mage a part of Karasuno.  
"Help me find my brother then, let me bring my brother home," Akiteru pleaded, desperation written all over his features.  
Suga adamantly shook his head, causing Akiteru to go from desperate to clenching his jaw in anger.  
"He will not be going with you unless he wishes to. Where is he now?" Suga asked firmly.  
Akiteru opened and closed his mouth, repeating the motion once more when Daichi raised his eyebrows at the elder Tsukishima.  
"He ran north," Daichi informed them.  
"North? Why north?" Suga asked. "Hadn't he been heading south when he passed through here?"  
Everyone looked to Akiteru, who was visibly pale, and Tadashi could have sworn he saw the blonde's hands shaking at his sides.  
"I must be going," Akiteru said, waving his hand in the air.  
Tadashi watched as the strange Familiar swept his hand in an arch, the familiar golden tinge of magic creating new some kind of haze. Everyone stopped moving, the wind stopped blowing, it was almost as if time itself had stopped, which was _impossible ___. Akiteru walked off from where he was standing, heading north and slightly east; he was heading in the direction of Aoba Jouhsai's territory.  
Tadashi tried to step forward, but his movements were slowed, like he was stuck in four feet of mud.   
_So he can't stop time, only slow it ___, Tadashi realized.  
The eldest Tsukishima made his way to the edge of the clearing before shifting into something slimy and long, like a snake. As soon as he disappeared into the forest, time returned to normal, the sensation nearly knocked Tadashi to the ground. The others merely blinked and spun around, looking for Akiteru.  
Had they not seen him leave?  
"Yamaguchi!" Suga said sternly, bringing Tadashi back to the present.  
"Suga-san?" Tadashi asked.  
"Do you think that Familiar will go after Tsukishima?" Suga asked, hands shaking at the normally calm healer's sides.  
"Suga, he won't-" Daichi tried, but Suga dismissed the warrior with a sharp look.  
"Yamaguchi?" Suga prompted. "This is urgent."  
Tadashi looked anywhere but the healer and nodded in a small motion.  
"But why? The mage is his Keeper," Daichi asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.  
Suga did not respond to Karasuno's leader, instead choosing to disappear in an arch of light, leaving the spot he was standing in glowing faintly after the healer had disappeared.  
"I _hate ___it when he does that," Daichi mumbled, stalking off to presumably find the healer.  
So Tadashi stood in place, looking at his own hands as if they would somehow miraculously gain any sort of magical ability. He only had one ability, only one asset to bring to Karasuno. So the Familiar made his decision, shifting into his speckled crow form. He could feel the cold burn of magic in his head, tugging him north east.  
So naturally, he decided to follow it, hoping that maybe its lead him to the runaway mage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I didn't even plan on Akiteru being a bad guy. It just kind of happened. Oops.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have titled this chapter as: Kei Is Basically The Mage Version Of Being Stoned And Is Seriously In Denail.  
> I know I updated really quickly, but I made a promise to myself to keep updating as soon as I was done writing and editing.  
> Also! Say hello to some minor IwaOi and some even more minor KyouHaba (my favorite rarepair). I hope you enjoy~  
> :D

Oikawa Tooru was not one for hasty actions of any sort, despite what his reputation might lead one to believe. He was cautious, careful with the use of his power as Grand King of his territory. He would not send any of his people into harms way unless absolutely necessary, especially not his Knight.  
So that's why, when the moon reached its highest point in the sky, the brunette king snuck out from underneath his boyfriend's arm (with much difficulty, mind you, Iwa-chan had such strong and beautiful arms). Once untangled from his softly snoring boyfriend, the king merely flicked his wrist and he was ready for his dangerous outing.  
Of course, he had had to pick the outfit out beforehand—his normal Sejoh teal and white shirt and dark pants (he hated to admit it looked better of Iwa-chan than him). He grabbed his glasses by the door, hastily scribbling a note for Iwa-chan to read when the man finally woke up, then Tooru was on his way.  
He was about halfway out of the small town when he was stopped by a soft growling sound, and he cursed his luck internally. He tried for his most confident smile and spun around, grinning widely at the golden and black dog behind him.  
"Ah! KyouKen-chan~ How lovely it is to see you! I was just going out for a walk you see, nothing to worry about!" Tooru lied, reaching to pat the dog's bristling fur just to annoy him.  
"Cut the crap, Oikawa-san," a voice said from behind the dog.  
The shadows warped as Tooru's kouhai appeared again. The king solemnly noted that the boy had taken his advice and had begun working on his skills with shadow magic. But now he was regretting this advice, seeing as Yahaba had surpassed Tooru's cloaking abilities easily. Really, Tooru probably wasn't suited for cloaking, seeing as he was a peacock at heart.  
"You have improved greatly, Yaha-chan!" Tooru said, hoping his legendary smile might convince the other mage to not follow him.  
The dog in front of the mage growled darkly, obviously not liking the tone Tooru took with his Keeper.  
"Oikawa-san, you know Iwaizumi-san said no one out after dark, it's dangerous," Yahaba reasoned calmly, stepping so he was beside his Familiar.  
Kyoutani growled to punctuate his Keeper's words.  
"Now now, KyouKen-chan, I understand. No need to bring out that tone. But you see, I outrank Iwa-chan, so doesn't that make such a rule not apply to me?" Tooru asked innocently.  
Yahaba wavered for a moment, but when the scruffy dog at his side nudged his head against the younger boy's knee, he shook off the weight of Tooru's spell. Damn Familiar, always making things difficult for Tooru. He had places to be _dammit ___. Fate waited for no man! Not even one as beautiful and talented as Oikawa Tooru.  
"Yaha-chan, if you insist on being a buzzkill, you and your pet can come with me. But I highly don't recommend it," Tooru said, giving his magic one last push at Yahaba, but the younger boy rejected Tooru's... _suggestion ___like it was nothing.  
Yahaba was getting stronger, much to Tooru's excitement, and currently, his disappointment. Maybe it was Kyoutani's fault. The resident Mad Dog had enough magical resistance for two or three other mages besides Yahaba anyway. Too bad it didn't really work like that.  
Yahaba sighed deeply, running a hand down his face.  
"Okay, Oikawa-san, but Iwaizumi is going to kill you when we get back," Yahaba said, motioning with his hand for Tooru to lead the way.  
The older mage spun around again and quickly marched into the forest, hoping he wasn't too late, because then not only would he be dead in the near future, but practically all warriors and mages.  
The dark forest was quiet, unnaturally so this time of year. Normally there would be crickets, maybe cicadas, possibly even coyotes. But right now, there was nothing. That was good though, because that way Tooru would be able to hear the snake he was hunting.  
"Oikawa-san?" Yahaba asked, but it was slowed, so it sounded more like Oi-kaaa-waaa-saaan.  
Tooru noticed his kouhai and the Familiar had dropped back, their steps slowed when Tooru's were not.  
They were close.  
"Stay there, Yaha-chan," Tooru said quietly, before refocusing his attention to the darkness that swarmed around him.  
The slow motion of everything buzzed in his ears like bees, fragments of things slowing down around him as he got closer to his prey. Tooru closed his eyes and tried to remember the exact scene. A blonde boy on the ground; a green scaled cobra curled up beside a tree, one fang buried in the boy's leg; time slowed to almost a stop around the boy. Tooru opened his eyes again, marching forward quicker and the buzz of magic became more prominent.  
When he reached the scene of the incident, it was almost exactly like it was in his dream, yet the cobra's single fang had yet to plunge into the boy's thigh. When the snake saw him, it recoiled back with impossible speed. Of course, Tooru only found it natural to grin widely at the culprit like he was Tooru's best friend.  
"Hello Snake-chan~" he greeted, upping the wattage of his smile.  
The snake hissed in response, and the boy's eyelids fluttered slightly at the noise, like he was having a bad dream.  
"You're trespassing, you know that? This is my territory. Don't you belong up north preparing your army with Other Cobra-chan?" Tooru asked sweetly.  
The snake hissed and raised its head, it's hood fanning out as it hissed again, appearing very threatening. Such a thing was to not be tolerated, considering the snake had the audacity to try and murder a poor mage on Tooru's territory.  
"Run back to your master, little snake," Tooru said, motioning deeper into the woods with his hand. "Run back to where you came from. And next time, at least give me a challenge. Bring a few Familiars that actually have the guts to face me."  
The cobra gave Tooru a dirty look before lowering its hood, slithering back into the forest. Tooru would have killed it, had the consequences of his actions probably have caused a war that he was underprepared for. Daishou and his minions were too strong, and Tooru still hadn't convinced the other leaders to join him in taking the fight north, to the kidnapped clans.  
Well, technically that southern cat had agreed to fight with him, but without Fukurodani they would be dead meat. Owl-chan and his Keeper were valuable assets, considering to get to a good offensive position, Tooru would have to go through either Fukurodani's territory or Johenzi's, and the newest leader of Johenzi hadn't even bothered to show up to their first monthly meeting that he was invited to.  
After a short while, time seemed to return to normal, and Tooru could finally use his magic normally. With a flick of his pale wrist, the Grand King of Sejoh levitated the boy and began swiftly walking through the forest back to where he left Yahaba and Kyoutani.  
_Like poison in our veins, ___Cat-chan from down south had said.  
Tooru realized that yes, this Snake-chan _was ___like the poison in their veins. Peace had _finally ___settled across the lands. Warriors and Familiars were finally recognized as equals by the mages, but now Daishou and his accomplice were stirring up old trouble amongst the Familiars and the mages.  
With the rate this was going, it was bound to tear whole clans apart. Familiars turning on their Keepers, Keepers not trusting their Familiars, this was bound to go badly. But would anyone listen to Tooru, one of the only people who could see _the freaking future? ___No, of course not, why listen to Tooru when they could listen to Ushiwaka-chan with his stupid "The Northerners Must Sort Out Things Themselves, We Must Blah, Blah, Blah" speech that drove anyone in their right mind to madness.  
When Tooru got back to Yahaba, levitating mage close behind, the younger mage and his Familiar got no explanation. Instead Tooru continued his quest forward, back to his clan where he would most likely be hugged, then killed by Iwa-chan.  
When he did return, Yahaba and Kyoutani close behind, the faint red glow of the rising sun peeking through the trees, he got pretty much exactly what he expected.  
The shorter, yet more muscular man stormed up to Tooru, kicked him in the shins, then pulled him down into a suffocating hug.  
"Where were you?" Iwa-chan growled in his ear.  
"I rescued a mage," Tooru said simply, burying his head into the skin between Iwa-chan's neck and shoulder.  
The man smelled the best there, like apples and cinnamon with a hint of something purely _Iwa-chan ___. Tooru's Knight sighed deeply and stepped away from his boyfriend, giving the fluffy-haired brunette a stern look.  
"You shouldn't have wandered off," Iwa-chan said gruffly.  
Tooru rolled his eyes and dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand.  
"We can argue later. Right now we need to get this kid to Kunimi, get a good look at what's wrong with him," Tooru said, holding out his hand for Iwa-chan to take.  
Iwaizumi sighed and took up the offer, a tan and rough hand encasing Tooru's own pale and delicate one. Tooru could have sworn he heard Yahaba make a gagging sound behind them, to which the golden dog at his side snorted out a sort of doggy-like laugh. Like _those two ___didn't hold hands ever.  
Tooru levitated the mage behind them closer, the mage looked even paler in the faint light of morning, much more pale than he had before. Something was off about this whole situation, and despite his fame for being able to see glimpses of the future, most of the time they were only that, _glimpses ___. He never quite got all of the story, and he had a feeling this one had _quite _an interesting tale behind it. One that when the young mage awoke, Tooru was going to pull out of him.__

___________*****_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Kei felt like absolute shit.  
His head was throbbing, his throat ached, his skin burned (or was it freezing?), and his stomach felt like it tied itself into knots. He had to really stop doing things that made him feel shitty like this. What had even happened? Where even was he?  
Kei forced his eyelids to open, though they felt like they were made of stone. A wooden ceiling came into view before it went out of focus again, a bolt of pain shooting through his upper back. The pain was familiar, like he had felt it in such a way before.  
_Oh, ___he thought, _the lake. ___  
That's what the pain was from, back when he was younger and had gotten trapped under the ice. Or was he pushed in? He couldn't quite remember.  
There had been flailing limbs, both his and another's, or maybe it had been a fish? He had smacked his head onto the ice above him, or had he been hit over the head with something? It had been cold, tree roots pinning his arms down, or had it been a set of hands? Then there had been a pain under the skin of his back, searing into his skin like fire, but much, much colder. And the water had been cold. Had he been up north? Or was it winter somewhere down south?  
Why was his head doing this? This mental tango?  
And why did his chest feel numb, and why couldn't he taste the inside of his own mouth? It felt like cotton had replaced his tongue, which was not a natural feeling. What were those leaves? Snowblossom leaves? Had he eaten a bad batch of those with his brother? No, wait, something happened with Akiteru. What was it?  
How old was he?  
_I don't even know how old I am ___, he realized, panic rising in his numb chest.  
Kei tried to move, but nothing worked, not even when he tried to wiggle his fingers. Had he been poisoned? No, that's impossible, Akiteru would have saved him if he had been poisoned and he would not have been laying in an unfamiliar place. But, hadn't Akiteru done something wrong? He couldn't remember.  
There was a cold hand on his forehead, so very cold (or was it warm?). A face stared down at him, one he didn't recognize and couldn't commit to memory.  
_Do you have a Familiar? ___  
Wait, had that face just asked that? What was going on? Of course he did: Akiteru! But, had something happened with Akiteru?  
Would his big brother not come to save him?  
"Do you have a Familiar?!? This is really important!" the face said, and this time Kei actually heard his voice instead of a weird echoing in his head.  
Kei tried his best to nod, he really did, but he wasn't sure if it all worked out that way. But apparently it did because the face seemed to get a look of understanding.  
There was a pinch in Kei's arm, or, at least, he thought it was a pinch, he wasn't completely sure. Had his clan gotten a new healer? He didn't remember that.  
"We're going to help you, okay? Just hang in there, we're looking for your Familiar as we speak!" the face said.  
Wait, why would they look for his Familiar? Akiteru would be inside their tent as always, waiting for Kei to come home after getting lessons from their father. Akiteru would be cooking stew with their mother, sneaking little bites when she turned her back for a moment. Akiteru would _always ___be there! Why wouldn't he be?  
Akiteru had been there when Kei started his first fight with a boy twice his size, one that crumpled easily with one swift kick to his knee. Akiteru had been there to help Kei cover up the black eye he got two days later when he had gotten beat up by that kid's friends. Akiteru had been there when Kei had the flu, holding his hand and cuddling when Kei got too cold. Of course, Kei had been there two days later when Akiteru got the flu as well. Akiteru had been the one to teach him how to fish, even when Kei cried because the fish didn't deserve to die by suffocating, which had always been one of Kei's biggest fears, suffocating and being trapped in small spaces.  
There _couldn't ___be a world or a time when Akiteru _wasn't ___protecting Kei, right? Akiteru was his big brother, he loved him more than anything in the whole world! They were a family, they loved each other and took care of each other!  
Kei didn't want to live in a world where Akiteru wasn't undoubtedly his Familiar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kei. I'm sorry buddy, I'm sorry I'm emotionally torturing you. Also, the emotional torturing is probably not done. Sorry Tsukki, I'm screwing up your life.  
> Stay tuned for flashbacks in the foreseeable future.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, today the juices were really flowing. So, guess what! Update Dump! Oh well, I actually really enjoyed writing this. I think this might be my favorite chapter I've written. Anywho~ Enjoy! :D

The day Akiteru went crazy was just like any other, in Kei's twelve-year-old opinion. The day had started out normal, Akiteru woke Kei up with the threat of dumping his breakfast on him, to which Kei had replied with a murmured string of curse words and maybe a grunt or two. Akiteru had just laughed heartily, ruffling Kei's hair because he knew it annoyed him ("Stop treating me like a kid, Aki-nii, I'm nearly thirteen!" "You will always be an annoying little kid to me!"). Kei rose a few minutes later only to have a bread of some kind shoved into his face the minute he sat up. The next ten minutes had been spent with Kei in a headlock when he attempted to yell to the world about Akiteru's crush on a girl warrior named Saeko.  
After breakfast, they walked down to the frozen-over lake where Akiteru's friend Daishou was waiting for them. Kei had always liked Daishou, he would make an excellent Familiar if he wasn't so picky about finding a specific Keeper. When asked why he was so particular, he would usually respond with some hiss or a short "I learned about them from a dream". But eventually people would make fun of Daishou for basing his expectations off of a dream, so he eventually started only responding with a hiss or a grunt.  
That's what Kei liked best about him, that he didn't need a Keeper to be happy, that he didn't _have ___to choose someone like Kei and Akiteru did when they were ten and sixteen. And Kei was pretty sure Daishou genuinely liked Kei as well, since Kei was the only one who took an interest in Daishou's dream Keeper ("So, so beautiful, Kei. With blonde and black hair, he even has a tongue piercing." "That's so cool Daishou-kun!" "I know, right! He's the most perfect person in the world.") On top of that, Kei was pretty sure he was the only person who knew Daishou's Keeper was a guy, which would bother some of their clan, but Kei always thought that gender didn't matter, especially when it came to Keepers and Familiars.  
They talked about Daishou's Keeper as they walked down to the shore of the lake, where the half-sand half-dirt was. As usual, Kei expressed his desire to find a different Familiar, one that wasn't exactly forced upon him. And, as usual, Akiteru ruffled Kei's hair and pinched his cheeks saying how he really wanted a cuter Keeper too, one that was a girl ("My Keeper will be cuter than yours, Aki-nii!" "Oh really?" "Yeah! They'll have adorable freckles, just like Auntie Akane does!").  
The three of them then set out upon the ice, Kei naturally sliding across the frozen lake like he belonged while Daishou and Akiteru struggled to keep themselves upright, and therefore subjected themselves to relentless taunting.  
They spent the first part of the morning fishing through holes they carved in the ice, and of course Kei refused to fish, instead choosing to slide over the ice with much more grace than he probably should have considering the lankiness of his twelve-year-old body. When Daishou and Akiteru decided it was time for lunch, the three boys headed back, greeted with the scent of stew and bread, the staple of their clan.  
Kei grumbled and groaned about having the _same thing ___everyday, but was quickly silenced by Akiteru shoving a piece of bread into Kei's mouth, followed by Daishou dangling a frozen piece of Kei's favorite (preserved strawberry bread) in front of his face in which he gratefully took. Akiteru and Kei's mother scolded all three of them for not wearing enough layers and then proceeded to shove warm scarves in their faces.  
Kei and Daishou immediately pressed their faces into the scarves, since they had been freezing, but also had been too 'manly' to admit it. Akiteru, on the other hand, stared at the scarf as if it had done something to offend him. But when Akiteru raised his eyes to Daishou, who was still nuzzling the fabric, Akiteru immediately wound the scarf around himself, covering what Kei realized was a faint blush.  
Akiteru never blushed.  
Kei was about to tease him for it, but one look from his mother immediately silenced him, and he wound the scarf around himself instead. He had wondered why Akiteru was ashamed of his obvious feelings for Daishou. The boy was admittedly very good looking, and their clan wouldn't be too concerned with such things, as long as there was no public displays of affection.  
Then Kei realized that it was maybe because Daishou was obviously smitten with a man he had never met, and that kind of made Kei feel awful. He immediately regretted all of those times he asked and asked about Daishou's Keeper. He had felt bad for Akiteru, had even offered up a piece of his strawberry bread. Akiteru had given him an odd look, but had seemed to understand the sentiment and accepted the bread.  
That afternoon Kei made sure to keep off of the topic of Daishou's Keeper as they scoured the frozen tundra for small animals like hares and maybe even a pheasant or two. Kei was much more comfortable hunting these animals than fishing, but he still wasn't quite a fan of killing in general ("You realize everything we kill does go into that stew you eat everyday." "Yeah, but it's not the same. Then it's already dead, might as well not waste it.")  
When they came back in the evening, they were the proud hunters of two pheasants (all Daishou) and four rabbits (mostly all Akiteru, Daishou got one). They all sat beside each other again, though much closer now since the night had gone from freezing, to an actual block of ice. Kei had happily crammed himself in between the steady warmth of Daishou and Akiteru. Kei and Akiteru's grandma told her nightly tale to the clan huddled around the fire, the one about the beginning of the reign of mages, Familiars, and all the trouble that accompanies them.  
Apparently the world had been run by greedy, awful men who had no magic since they destroyed the earth with their awful machines. Then, when there got to be too many of them, the world pooled its magic into the few good souls that remained, turning them into the first mages. The mages hadn't been enough though, not strong and united enough, so the world gave magic to some of the animals, converting them into the first Familiars. Those had been the most pure Familiars of all, the ones born from animal families and then turned into humans later on in life. Kei liked that part the best, where the animals turned into Familiars ("Wow! That's so cool Aki-nii! I want a Familiar that came from the earth naturally!" "And I want a pretty girl, I guess we don't always get what we want." "You two, shut up and listen!").  
With the Familiars, mages became the stronger power, but there were not enough Familiars to go around when the Old World had been demolished, so not all mages were happy like they should have been. So then, the world granted some beings without magic, warriors whom when bonded with a mage, became more powerful and known as Knights. Daishou then whispered to Kei that that's what his Keeper was, a Knight, or at least a warrior. Kei had smiled brightly to Daishou, then placed his head on the older boy's shoulder.  
The story continued to tell of the past, of how clans were formed to protect their people. Then how the mages underestimated the Familiars' value. Kei always talked to Daishou and Akiteru through that part, telling them how he wouldn't ever be like those old mages. He would tell them that they were the best brothers he could ever ask for, even if Daishou was born in the woods naturally and didn't really have any family. After that, Kei would shift so that his head was on Akiteru's shoulder, and both boys pretended that they never saw Daishou wipe his eyes night after night when Kei said he was his brother.  
After the story though, that's when things went south _really ___fast.  
Akiteru had convinced Kei to go for a walk with him so they could burn off their extra energy that they always seemed to have after the story. Daishou had given each of them a hug goodnight and had kissed both of their foreheads before slipping off to his tent for the night, leaving Akiteru with a pinkish tint and Kei with a bright smile that always seemed to appear when Daishou showed them affection.  
Akiteru challenged Kei to a race, which he easily accepted, boasting that he could run so much further than his brother. Akiteru had ruffled his hair to distract him, then took off in the direction of the lake. Kei had yelled about an unfair start before taking off after his brother.  
He caught up as Akiteru reached the lake, slowing to a walk along the shore. Kei had immediately sensed his Familiar's somber mood and had slowed to walk silently beside him.  
"Let's go walk out on the lake."  
And that had been the beginning of the end.  
Kei had hastily agreed, happy to be on ice, which was definitely his best element when he had to use the elements in his magic. Even his normal shimmering shield of magic had started looking sort of icy in the past few weeks. Akiteru had trailed behind as Kei sped out onto the ice, nearly falling over in his haste. He let out a carefree laugh, and his feet slid out from under him, making him land flat on his butt.  
Kei grinned up at his brother, who he expected would look down at him with a laugh and a hair-ruffle, but instead he was met with lifeless amber eyes.  
"Aki-nii? Are you alright?"  
Those words seemed to snap something inside of his brother, and immediately he was pinned into the ice, his brother's arms holding him into the cold surface.  
"Akiteru, you're scaring me," Kei had said shakily.  
He was met with an inhuman growl and a hiss of anger.  
Fire lit in a circle around them, Akiteru's primary element of power, and it began melting the ice.  
"Akiteru?!?" Kei asked, panic filling his voice.  
The spiny webs of cracks in the ice surrounded them, making Kei panic more. At the temperature it currently was, they would freeze to death in only a few minutes.  
When a loud crack split through the air, Akiteru leapt off of Kei, leaving him as Kei plunged into the icy water. Kei swam back forwards the surface, taking a gasping breath of air before he was shoved back down by a pair of hands. Kei's eyes widened when Akiteru shoved him back down into the icy water. Kei kicked and fought to get out, but Akiteru was much, much stronger than him.  
His lungs burned and his arms ached where Akiteru's fingers left bruises on them, and his toes ached from lack of warmth and the dull throb of kicking his feet against six inches of solid ice.  
When he could take it no longer, he ended up inhaling a breath-full of water. At that point, something searingly hot ran across his upper back, tracing across the tattoo of the constellation. It burned badly, even worse than the first time they were forced to have their magic bound together.  
The world dimmed, but then the grip released his arms, and Kei was free. He feebly kicked up towards the surface, only to be yanked out of the water by strong, warm arms. Shivering and coughing up water, Kei was wrapped up with a jacket, Daishou's jacket.  
The older boy scooped up Kei in his arms, but Kei resisted. He was in shock, both from the cold and the fact that Akiteru had tried to drown him. But... he hadn't meant to, right?  
Daishou used his magic to let warmth seep into Kei's skin, but it didn't feel right anymore. The magic burned, and all Kei could feel was the cold, lifeless feeling that he had seen in Akiteru's eyes. Kei tried to ask about his brother, to warn Daishou of what he had done, but Daishou seemed to have none of it, instead rushing him to their healer.  
Their mother had immediately arrived once Kei was in the clear, fawning over him and asking what happened. One look at Daishou, sitting in the corner with his face buried in his hands, shaking uncontrollably, and Kei let out a small lie ("Ice broke." "Honey...").  
Akiteru returned to their clan three days later, dragged in by Daishou's strong grip on his arm. Kei had ran, fled to the tundra where he heaved up the water that had settled days ago in a vicious coughing fit that led up to vomiting furiously. Daishou, as usual, found him and brought him back, hand much gentler than it had been with Akiteru.  
Akiteru had given him an early birthday gift, a new pair of glasses, smiling softly. Kei wondered if he had imagined the whole experience, and he gradually began believing his own lies. After all, nobody else acted like it had happened, Daishou always skirted around the subject, tending to stick close to Kei in the next few weeks.  
The whole clan just assumed it was because of Kei's foolishness and love of the ice. He didn't love it anymore. Not to mention, the next time his father took him out to teach him magic, Kei had downright fainted he moment he tried to access his magic.  
The time after that he had a full on panic attack and it had taken Daishou two hours to lull him into a form of emotionally exhausted sleep.  
The time after that he threw up for four days straight.  
After that... he didn't use his magic anymore.  
Anytime he seemed to see the lake he had the same reaction, so he stopped going fishing with Daishou. The time he went hunting with Daishou and Akiteru he had run away crying, the blood that dripped out of the rabbits mouth reminding him of some odd form of the water he was confident he was still coughing up.  
Then, he had a dream.  
It was the same dream about him drowning, except this time Daishou couldn't save him. He had woken up every night screaming for the rest of the week.  
Akiteru stopped showing his face.  
Then, one day, Daishou confirmed his fears.  
The older boy pulled Kei aside one night before bed, leading him to his own tent. They sat down on Daishou's blankets, which were fairly warm despite the cold. Daishou had attempted to tuck blankets around Kei, but the younger boy only pushed them away. The cold had seeped into his bones, into his soul, and he didn't plan on stopping it.  
"Kei," Daishou had said softly, leaning forward to touch the younger's face.  
Kei flinched back from the motion, the prickling in his skin when people touched him now was too uncomfortable to bear.  
"You haven't talked all week, please say something," Daishou said, green eyes cloaked in desperation.  
Had it really been that long? Kei couldn't remember.  
Daishou sighed at his lack of response, but it wasn't like his mother's sighs of pity and disappointment, it was just a sigh of tiredness. Daishou must have been exhausted trying to put up with him.  
"You do realize why you can't tell anyone what happened that night, right?" Daishou asked.  
Kei stared at the ground, particularly the blanket curled around Daishou's feet.  
"Sometimes, when paired with the wrong Keeper, a Familiar will just... snap. Things have just recently been put to rest with the Mage-Familiar equality. This would just make things more... complicated. Do you understand?" Daishou said, leaning forward.  
Kei kept staring at Daishou's feet, ignoring the desperation in the older boy's voice.  
"I said, do you understand?!?" Daishou snapped, grabbing Kei's chain and yanking upward.  
Kei immediately recoiled, tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat. Daishou immediately recoiled as well, eyes wide in the shock of what he'd just done.  
"Kei, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean it, I was just-"  
"No," Kei croaked out, tearing the blankets away and scrabbling for the exit.  
"Kei!" Daishou called out, trying to follow him.  
The younger boy had felt the uncomfortable prickle of magic just then, coursing through the back of his skull. He lifted his hands in defense, and a powerful wave of ice slammed into Daishou, sending him reeling. Kei took the opportunity to run, hastily making his way back to his own tent, the one that had been once occupied by him and his brother, and immediately packed his bag. He filled it with only essentials: food and water he had stolen days ago just in case he had to leave in a hurry.  
He threw on the biggest coat he owned that wasn't Akiteru's at some point, and fled into the night. He told himself he would keep heading south, past Johenzi, past Shiratorizawa, all the way to the southern ocean. Maybe then he'd be warm and safe, finally. Maybe then he'd find closure.  
Two weeks later, Kei got wind of rumors spread amongst the mages and warriors, one of a rough Familiar.  
A cobra with only one fang.  
He had killed his own family, killed the mages that would not cooperate with his plans, whatever they were, and was now running an all-Familiar society up north with another cobra. Rumor was that his mage abandon him, driving him to the point of insanity. Apparently the only one who could control him was that partially-sane Familiar at his side, one who was rumored to be the mastermind of the Familiars' plans.  
Two days later, that tribe kicked out the Familiars willing to leave without a fight, and Kei had left before the others were executed.  
The thirteen-year-old couldn't help but think if he hadn't been so emotional and scared, this wouldn't have happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the immense need to apologize to Tsukki. Maybe even to Akiteru and Daishou.  
> Oh well, it had to be done.  
> The next update will be in the present time, not a backstory, probably.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez. This was so hard to write for some reason. I have hit writers block!   
> :( Help! Also, I'm not quite happy with this chapter, but it's done, so I guess it's good enough. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! :D

When Kei awoke for the second time, everything felt much, much better. Despite the churning in his stomach and the weary ache in his bones, there was a pleasant tingle in the back of his head that reminded him of nights when he was little, crammed between his brothers, wrapped in warmth.  
When he opened his eyes, the light that was pouring in through the open windows was too bright for a moment. After blinking rapidly for a minute, he opted to sit up, which hurt like hell. He could have sworn he aged thirty to forty years after he passed out in the forest, but he couldn't dwell on that currently. What he needed to figure out was where he was and how to escape.  
The little room his was in was actually quite normal-looking, and he immediately was reminded of his time in Aoba Jouhsai's territory. In fact, that's probably where he was.  
Teal curtains masked some of the light from the windows, but with the soft fluttering of the wind came the ruffling of the curtains, letting light pool through every time a gust of wind came through. There was a vase of flowers in the window closest to him— they looked like daisies maybe. Then he noticed that he was, in fact, not alone in the room, and his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest.  
There was a boy sprawled out across two chairs in the farthest corner of the room, right beside the door. His face was hidden behind a mess of black hair that stuck up in all directions. The only hint to who this person might be was in his clothes; white button up shirt and black pants, the typical attire of those from the Karasuno Clan. Along his arms were freckles, stretching all the way from the tanned skin of his wrist all the way up his arm until they disappeared into the sleeves of the shirt.  
The back of his neck itched at the sight of the boy.  
Kei reached up to scratch at the skin just underneath the collar of his shirt, but was stopped by a weird jolt. He gingerly attempted to touch the skin there again, only to have another weird jolt scrape through the skin of his neck.  
_What the hell? ___  
The boy started moving, murmuring something softly in his sleep as he began awakening. Kei immediately froze, unsure whether he should stay put or make a quick dash for the door. He was too late to really make a decision though, since the boy was actually awake now, yawning and rubbing his eyes sleepily.  
Kei begrudgingly had to admit it was kind of cute.  
But now that Kei could see the boys face he realized that he had never met this kid, hadn't even known he existed at Karasuno. Maybe he was just an oddly dressed boy from another clan.  
The boy's warm brown eyes widened as he saw that Kei was awake, face darkening in some sort of blush that was only partially hidden by the smattering of freckles across his cheeks.  
"I- Hello," the boy squeaked, sitting up quickly and looking quite awkward.  
"Where am I?" Kei immediately asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.  
"Oh, uh, Aoba Jouhsai's territory," the boy said, grimacing as he rubbed at the back of his neck.  
"Who are you?" Kei asked.  
"M-My name's Yamaguchi," the boy said, dipping his head shyly. "I'm a Familiar from Karasuno."  
Familiar from Karasuno? Kei had thought that he had met all of their Familiars, plus this kid definitely wasn't Nishinoya, Tanaka, or Hinata.  
"Are you Sugawara's Familiar?" Kei asked.  
"O-Oh, uh, not exactly," Yamaguchi said, halting the nervous rubbing at the back of his neck.  
"Who's your Keeper then? Daichi?"  
Yamaguchi let out a snort at that. It was really ungraceful, kind of an odd sound, but it was still somehow cute.  
Kei decided he hated this boy and his adorable habits.  
"Like I could be Daichi's Familiar," Yamaguchi said bitterly.  
Kei had the urge to comfort the Familiar, so he promptly stood up (not without a lot of pain in his legs) and attempted to walk out the door. Before he could reach the door, it swung open to reveal a pretty brunette man wearing glasses.  
"Hello Glasses-chan~" the man greeted, making Kei give him a harsh glare.  
"Don't call me that," Kei said coldly, backing away from the door.  
"How was your rest, _Glasses-chan ___?" the man said.  
Kei noted that he was wearing the classic teal and white of Aoba Jouhsai. So that solved it indefinitely, he was in Aoba Jouhsai's territory.  
"Tsk," Kei responded, moving to go past the man.  
The man raised his pale, delicate hand, and if it weren't for the tingling in the back of Kei's head, he would not have known that this man was a mage. The magic streaming from the pale palm was practically invisible, the only visible hint being a slight shimmer along the edges of the brunette's fingertips.  
" _Sit down~ ___" the man sang.  
Kei felt his eye twitch at the effort of refusing this man's ability to do something called Siren Speak. Very few knew such a power existed, much less knew how to use it. Those who used it referred to it less as a command and more as a suggestion, but Kei had seen some things. Those things that he saw taught him that those resistant to Siren Speak usually did not live long after the mage Siren Speaking found out.  
But why was Kei able to resist now? Before he had no resistance at all to this sort of thing. Something happened, but he wasn't quite sure what it was yet.  
Nonetheless, Kei was not one to fight unnecessarily, so he walked over to the bed he had awoken on and sat down with his hands folded neatly in front of him. The brunette man smiled widely and strode into the room, using his magic to shut the door behind him with a flick of his wrist.  
"So~ I'm told you're from Karasuno," the man said, staring straight at Kei with a mischievous grin.  
The freckled boy, Yamaguchi, nodded his head in a near-microscopic motion from behind the brunette man. Nonetheless, such a vague motion gave Kei an understanding of what he needed to say.  
"That is correct," he lied smoothly, staring back at the brunette man.  
"Ah ah ah, no need to lie to me. I'm a friend," the brunette said, waggling his finger at Kei.  
"I was not lying," Kei said smoothly, glaring at the man.  
The brunette turned to face Yamaguchi, giving the boy a face-splitting grin.  
"Is he lying, Freckles-chan~" the brunette sang, making the freckled boy shrink under the power of his magic.  
"N-No, he's our h-healer-in-training," the boy stammered, looking anywhere else but the brunette's gaze.  
_Healer-in-training? That's highly improbable, what a terrible lie. ___  
The brunette gaze at Yamaguchi for a second longer before nodding sharply. He turned back to Kei, sticking his hand out for the younger mage to shake.  
"I'm Oikawa Tooru, Grand King of Aoba Jouhsai," he said.  
Kei warily took the hand, shaking it for a second before dropping his own hand back onto his lap to accompany the other.  
"Tsukishima Kei," he said.  
Oikawa grinned widely for no apparent reason, which was kind of creepy in Kei's opinion.  
"You almost died. I totally saved you, Kei-chan. You should repay your savior by attending our dinner in the dining hall tonight. I'm sure everyone will want to meet you," Oikawa said, seemingly trembling with excitement.  
"I owe you nothing," Kei said stiffly.  
"Ah, okay, but either way, please join me and my clan for dinner. It's been such a long time since we've had someone from Karasuno as our guest," Oikawa said, but there was something a little evil in his eye that Kei wasn't comfortable with.  
"No, I'll be on my way," Kei answered, standing up once again.  
He could have sworn Oikawa's grin faltered momentarily.  
"We can stay for a little while, right, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked.  
Kei immediately froze, whether it was from the nickname or not he couldn't tell, but he felt really warm. He knew he was blushing at the nickname, and he absolutely hated blushing, and nicknames. Nobody really called him by a nickname, he thought they were stupid.  
"I- um... Shut up, Yamaguchi!" he managed to hiss out.  
"Is that a yes?" Oikawa asked gleefully.  
"Of course, Oikawa-san," Yamaguchi answered.  
_Don't answer for me! ___Kei yelled internally.  
"Great!" Oikawa said, clapping his hands together. "I'll escort you two there now!"  
Kei gave Oikawa a confused look, then stopped as he realized he had somehow managed to mimic the exact one that Yamaguchi was giving Oikawa.  
"You two slept a really long time," Oikawa said, laughing softly at their expressions. "So, follow me!"  
Kei was about to run off, and would have except for the moment he stepped out of the small house he was met with wide brown eyes and a familiar face standing beside a short, spiky-haired man.  
_Oh no, I know him. Please don't know me, please don't know me... ___  
But Kei's pleas were not heard, seeing as the man whispered out a quiet and tentative "Tsukishima, I knew it was you."  
"Yahaba?" Kei asked.  
Those wide brown eyes were the same, but the silvery hair was new, as well as the oddly confident look on Yahaba's face. Kei remembered him as a small, scared little kid from back at his old clan. He had been a late bloomer as a mage, barely getting his magic before Kei ran away. Thankfully, it seemed, he was not forced into a bond with a Familiar, the lucky kid.  
"Yaha-chan, you know Glasses-chan?" Oikawa asked.  
Yahaba glanced pitifully at Kei, making the taller mage bristle slightly knowing Yahaba must have known the rumors referred to him and his brother.  
"He's from my old clan," Yahaba said simply, giving Kei a look that he realized meant 'We'll talk about this later'.  
"Oh? The clan with that _awful ___runaway mage and his psychopathic Familiar?" Oikawa asked sweetly.  
Kei didn't rise to the bait, seeing as Oikawa already _knew ___. Could he read minds or something?  
"Uh, yeah," Yahaba said quietly, glancing a look behind him like he was waiting for something, or someone.  
"That mage who went crazy? The one that was so _pathetic ___that he got practically his whole clan _murdered ___," Oikawa purred, the innocence way too false in his voice.  
A cold feeling brushed through Kei's chest, leaving an aching trail where it climbed steadily down his arm where he knew it would meet at the palm of his hand and give him away. The magic, like always, would surge to the surface, unable to be reigned in unlike his temper.  
He was going to _explode ___on everyone here, ice would freeze them in place and they'd never let him seek refuge in their territory again after his little... outburst.  
To be honest, he was a little terrified of the magic that lay inside him, coiled like a snake ready to strike at a moment's notice.  
But there was a hand on his arm, a warm one at that. Right above the veins in his wrist, right in front of where the magic threatened to seep out. He turned his head, only to find the freckled Familiar wasn't looking at him, only looking somewhere in the opposite direction a faint blush on his cheeks.  
A thumb ghosted over his pulse, leaving a tingling mixture of magic and something completely foreign in its wake.  
Then the magic retreated back to where it came from, somehow sated with the brush of the Familiar's magic. The hand quickly dropped from his wrist, leaving it feeling cold and unprotected. Part of him just wanted to reach out and...  
Kei snapped his attention back to Yahaba, who was muttering something to Oikawa, but the shorter mage's eyes were trained on Kei, not the Grand King of Aoba Jouhsai. There was something knowing in Yahaba's gaze that made Kei advert his eyes and focus on the ground.  
"Oi," the spiky-haired man said, a hand placed firmly on Oikawa's shoulder.  
"What, Iwa-chan? I wasn't doing anythi-"  
"Cut the shit, Trashykawa. Stop harassing our guests already," the man (Iwa-chan?) grumbled.  
"Mean, Iwa-chan," Oikawa pouted, sticking out his bottom lip like a little kid would.  
That earned him a slap to the back of the head before the spiky-haired man turned to Kei and Yamaguchi. He dipped into a small bow before introducing himself as Iwaizumi Hajime, Knight of Aoba Jouhsai.  
"I-It's an honor to meet you, Iwaizumi-san," Yamaguchi stammered nervously, the blush growing darker on his cheeks.  
Iwaizumi gave Yamaguchi a small smile before turning back to smack the back of Oikawa's head once more.  
"Come on, let's go get some food," Iwaizumi said, motioning to everyone else with the hand that wasn't tangled in Oikawa's brown hair.  
Kei felt the urge to run once again, especially when he caught Yahaba's sideways glance as Yamaguchi, Kei, and Yahaba all fell into step behind the Grand King and Knight of Aoba Jouhsai.  
When Yamaguchi looked away from the two of them to his left, Yahaba pointedly jerked his head towards what appeared to be a currently vacant training area, mouthing the words "after dinner". Kei didn't have much of a choice but to nod his agreement, because either way he needed to ask Yahaba how he had escaped the wrath of his brother and Daishou. As far as he knew, all of the mages had either been slaughtered, became Daishou's minions, or were sent further up north where they were less likely to try and rebel against the Familiar's that had removed them from their homes and had killed their loved ones.  
At Kei's nod, Yahaba gave him a small smile, something supposed to be reassuring, but in reality all it did was make Kei uneasy about the conversation yet to come. Kei swallowed down the nervousness that rose into his throat at the thought of explaining to the young mage _where he had been ___. Not to mention having to explain what _actually ___happened, why Kei _actually ___ran away like a _coward ___. Kei was so lame, so pathetic. What was even worse was that he still, after all these years of running and hiding, wanted to sprint away from the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like how Yahaba and Tsukki know each other a little? I thought it was a pretty clever way to discretely slip in some of my favorite RarePair (KyouHaba).  
> Anyway, hoped you liked it. Not sure when I'll get time to update again, writer's block sucks. See ya'll later. :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, listen up, I'm sorry this is so short. It's, like, pitifully short. I'm having a hell of a time writing this. But I will press on!  
> And FYI, in this Daishou is Akiteru's age (like 22 I think), in case you were wondering, and also other ages are probably screwed up too (i.e. Iwaizumi and Oikawa are probably somewhere in their twenties and Suga and Daichi are probably around the same age too).  
> Anyway, enjoy! :D

A knee bounced nervously under a desk, the cloth-covered knee occasionally hitting the wood above it. The leg continued its nervous tick until the door in front of it opened, a blonde head emerging from the hallway. The leg froze, kneecap brushing the rough bottom of the desk. The leg eased from its position back down to rest the heel of the foot back on the floor.  
"Is this a bad time?" Akiteru asked, breathing heavily.  
He must have just gotten back. Obviously it did not go quite as planned.  
Daishou eased himself into a more professional position, sharp eyes taking in the paleness of Akiteru's face and the trembling of the pale hands. He set down the pen he was holding, then motioned with the now-free hand for Akiteru to sit down on the chair in front of him.  
"How'd it go?" Daishou asked, drumming his fingers across his right thigh.  
"Not good," Akiteru said, furrowing his brow.  
He had that _look ___that he got when he strayed away from the task set upon him. Daishou knew Akiteru was unstable, but he scared the mages and Familiars on their side, so it was better to have him out in the field.  
"You only had to recruit one Familiar, just one, why didn't you?" Daishou asked calmly.  
Akiteru's expression darkened, his fists clenched, and his jaw set in a way that screamed _Kei is why, Kei is why, Kei is why. ___  
"Did you kill him?" he asked bluntly, his fingers stilling in their tapping rhythm.  
Akiteru shook his head slightly, working his jaw as he did so.  
"What about the Familiar? What happened there?" Daishou asked, leaning forward.  
Akiteru mumbled something unintelligible, ducking his head in a motion that made Daishou's heart twist uncomfortably in his chest. It was hard seeing the man he loved like this.  
"Akiteru," Daishou prompted softly.  
"He... He was..." Akiteru tried, squeezing his eyes shut.  
Daishou didn't miss the hand that Akiteru fisted into his rib cage. He was hurting. He probably needed to get to the healer, but Daishou needed to be _certain. ___  
"Aki, you have to tell me," Daishou said, growing deeply.  
"He... _freckles ___. Black hair, cowlick, and _freckles ___," Akiteru breathed, clenching his hand into his side.  
Daishou felt his expression soften and he stood, quickly making his way over to Akiteru. The blonde all but leapt into Daishou, pressing his face into Daishou's neck and fisting his free hand into Daishou's shirt. Akiteru trembled uncontrollably in a way that broke Daishou's heart.  
It only made sense that Kei would move on, after all, him and Akiteru were not meant to be Keeper and Familiar. Akiteru belonged to another mage or warrior somewhere, not Kei, and despite what Daishou wanted, not him.  
Daishou sighed and leaned his head against Akiteru's. He absentmindedly traced the coils of the snake tattoo curling around Akiteru's waist, remembering how Akiteru had clutched at his ribs where the head of the snake lay. Akiteru made a small sound at the touch feathered on his ribs, making Daishou flinch slightly. The magic there burned, Kei was dying.  
"I thought you said..."  
"I didn't kill him, but he's dying," Akiteru whispered. "The Familiar, he was in his mind so _easily ___, it was like... like..."  
Daishou clutched Akiteru tighter in response. Of course, the old bond would kill Kei when he met a Familiar suited to him. Nothing short of a miracle would save the younger Tsukishima. Of course, there was _that ___, but Kei would never chose that. Kei would rather die than face his biggest fear.  
Daishou could only hope for Akiteru's sake that Kei would refuse, that Kei would die so both boys could find their peace. One of them had to die, it was only a matter of time to see _which one. ___


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while. Writer's block is kicking my ass.  
> And also it's a pretty short (really short) update.  
> *sighs*  
> My apologies.   
> Enjoy! :D

Kei ate dinner squished between Yahaba and Yamaguchi, much to his dismay. He didn't like it when people casually touched him anyway, much less being trapped between them. Why was the table so crowded in Aoba Jouhsai? Not to mention, he was across from Oikawa who kept giving him small glances, and quite frankly it was freaking him out.  
Kei finished eating quickly, which was a bad idea in hindsight because now all he could focus on was the way he was trapped in between two kind-of-strangers.  
Despite the fact it was becoming hard to breathe while crammed between the other mage and the Familiar, dinner was alright. It was fairly good food and he felt like he hadn't eaten a proper meal in ages, but the back of his neck kept up its weird tingling/itching sensation. Especially when he would accidentally brush hands with Yamaguchi, but that wasn't weird, right?  
He was focusing on a pea that had rolled off of someone's plate when a chill rushed through him. Everything at the table went quiet, and for a moment everything was eerily still, like the world was holding its breath. Kei, in fact, was holding his breath.  
Then Yahaba's head rolled back like he had been knocked unconscious, but his eyes were still open.  
"Yaha-ch-" Oikawa tried, standing, only to fall where he stood into Iwaizumi's waiting arms.  
Kei looked in alarm at Iwaizumi, wondering what was happening, but the Knight was busy stroking Oikawa's hair, mumbling something into his neck as the King of Aoba Jouhsai writhed in his arms. Kei decided that the best option was, in fact, to leave. He stood abruptly and nearly fell over himself trying to untangle his chair from Yahaba and Yamaguchi's.  
He was nearly free when a hand encased his own, sending his mind into a frantic spiral.  
"Just, everyone stay calm," Iwaizumi commanded. "Matsu, go get Kunimi. Makki, go get Kyoutani. Everyone else stay calm and don't panic, they'll pick up on it."  
Right. Okay, don't panic. That sounded great and all, but Kei was pretty sure he was going to panic anyway. He wasn't even sure Yahaba was _breathing_. What was happening?  
Kei tried to tug away from the hand grasping his own, but the Familiar held tight.  
"Tsukki, calm down," the freckled boy said quietly, tugging at Kei's hand.  
Kei sent him a glare, causing the Familiar to blush and let go, murmuring out a soft "Sorry, Tsukki". Kei immediately rushed out of the room as soon as he could, pushing past someone as he hurried out.  
The chill of the night air made goosebumps rise on his arms, but it was good. It was refreshing. He didn't feel like he was being crushed by the presence of others. Kei knew he probably shouldn't have left, it was pathetic, but he couldn't just sit there and watch... well, whatever that was.  
He sighed and removed his glasses so he could press the heels of his palms into his eyes. He made sure to take _one, two, three_ deep breaths, a trick he learned a few years ago to keep himself as calm as possible.  
A shiver ran through his body and that was all the warning he got before a cold hand wrapped around his mouth and a blade pressed into his throat. He shakily brought his glasses back up to his face before he was turned around by his possible attacker.  
Kei started when he saw the creature in front of him. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen in his life, and he had seen a lot.  
It was tall, nearly as tall as he was, but there was a fluffy brown tail pressing lightly into Kei's side and fluffy ears atop the creature's head twitched slightly when the wind blew.  
"Oikawa?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo. I did it! New chapter! It's another flashback though, hopefully this makes sense. Enjoy! :D

They were eight when they first met.  
Hajime had gone out early in the morning, hunting for beetles amongst the dew soaked grass. His mom had sent him out to gather herbs for her, something about needing more goldwart and bleedingthistle, but really she just needed Hajime out of the house so she could "pay the landlord". Hajime didn't understand, at the time, and wouldn't until much later.  
If he were any other child, his mother would have told him to go play with the other kids, but none of the other kids like Hajime. He's weird, they say, likes bugs too much, likes the woods too much, doesn't have magic running through his veins like everyone else in his village. Hajime is not like them, always drawn to the forest, just like the forest is drawn to him.  
So when he journeys out into the forest, it's unsurprising that he's also joined by a rabbit or two along with a deer with beautiful curly antlers. What's new though, is the fox.  
Hajime doesn't notice it at first, trailing after him, until the sun reaches the highest point in the sky and he heads back to his mother's house. It isn't until he reaches his door that the fox makes a noise, a weird squeak that makes Hajime flinch.  
"Go home," he whispers to it, trying to shoo it away with his foot.  
Instead, it tries to stick its claws into his leg, and to be honest this isn't the first time an animal has tried to stick close to him, even after he leaves the forest.  
The door swings open, revealing their landlord, all disheveled. Hajime frowns—he hates the landlord—as the man pushes past Hajime, making the smaller boy stumble backward off the porch, landing flat on his back. Hajime's permanent scowl deepens, and for a moment the landlord and Hajime are locked in a glaring battle. Then, the landlord lets out a shout and a string of curses fowl enough for even Hajime to wince at the language. The man grabs the small fox by the scruff sternly, then proceeds to toss the creature at Hajime. Hajime barely manages to catch the creature by its tail, making it let out a screech of pain. Immediately, Hajime is murmuring and apology as he sets the fox kit on the ground.  
The landlord is gone, and Hajime is relieved.

*****

The kit shows up everyday after that, usually to be shooed away by Hajime, as much as he wants to play with the creature like he would a pet. And really, he knows a fox is a wild animal and not meant to be a pet, but that's hard to remember when the fox kit purrs and rubs itself against Hajime's legs whenever he sets foot outside of the house.   
Plus, the fox kit is really cute with its soft, fluffy fur and big, round eyes. It's practically a cat, to be honest, with the way his mother feeds it and it purrs whenever Hajime is near. The fox follows him back and forth into the woods even, always bounding ahead, chasing after a colorful leaf or bug, or plodding along at his side.  
But, one day, it doesn't show up.  
Hajime begrudgingly has to admit that he waits a little longer than usual before going on his bug hunt, but the fox never shows. Hajime never shows his disappointment.  
He's trudging along, half heartedly trailing after an emerald beetle, when he hears crying. Hajime is immediately curious, considering the crying is obviously coming from a child like him, and no one but Hajime goes that far into the forest. When Hajime finds the boy, he's stunned. It isn't exactly a _boy_ , considering the ears and tail, but it is crying, and Hajime isn't one to abandon a... _creature?_ in trouble.  
"Are you alright?" he asks dumbly, keeping his distance in case the creature is dangerous.  
The creature jolts and looks up at him with large brown eyes that blink away shimmering tears, and suddenly Hajime can't breathe. He stumbles backwards, but the creature's eyes are still locked on his and there is a burning sensation crawling up his arm.  
Hajime runs.

*****

Hajime is twelve when he learns what happened in the woods all those years ago.  
"A bond between Keeper and Familiar is sealed by a marking, usually one connected to each of them individually. A Familiar," they would explain, "is a creature who can shift back and forth between creature and person."  
When Hajime asked if a Familiar could be stuck in between, the whole class looked at him as if he'd grown three heads and started dancing in the middle of the school day.  
"A pureborn mage," his teacher had said, "that's the only creature that can be both, one, or the other. A pureborn mage is rare though, and no one has been bound to one before."  
That day, Hajime decides to return to the woods. This time, he silently searches for the fox-boy (at least, he thinks the boy was part fox). Hajime searches for hours, but he doesn't see the fox-boy, so he returns home, a sickened feeling settling in his stomach.  
That night, he lies awake in bed, tracing the oak tree marking on his arm longingly.

*****

The next morning, Hajime wakes up snuggled close to a fox, and his first response is to throw the creature off of him (it's not his fault he's not used to snuggling with fluffy animals). Hajime sits straight up, glancing over the side of the bed. Instead of a fox, it's a boy. An actual boy this time, not a half-fox half-boy creature.  
"You know, you aren't supposed to throw your Familiar across a room," the boy says with a pout, but a small smile curls at the corner of his lips nonetheless.  
Hajime just stares, but not just because the boy is admittedly the most beautiful creature he's ever seen, but also because he's _real_ , and Hajime's _Familiar_!   
"W-What's your name?" Hajime asks, eyes wide as he stares.  
"Oikawa Tooru," the boy says, pointing proudly at himself. "My momma says you're my Keeper, or somethin'. What's your name?"  
"Iwaizumi Hajime," Hajime answers, sticking his hand out for Oikawa to shake.  
Instead of shaking Hajime's hand, Oikawa presses the crown of his head into Hajime's hand, making a jolt of warmth burn up his spine. Hajime freezes at first, but Oikawa keeps nuzzling, pressing his soft hair into Hajime's hand. Eventually, Hajime overcomes his frozen response, and tugs at Oikawa's hair, a laugh bubbling out of his chest.  
"You're weird, Oikawa-kun," Hajime says, beginning to stroke his fingers through Oikawa's soft locks.  
Oikawa lifts his head and smiles, pressing his forehead into Hajime's hand.  
"You're weird too, Iwa-chan."  
Hajime laughs again, vaguely wondering how much this boy, this pureborn mage, will change his life. The answer: a lot.

 


End file.
